YES Basic Decade 2018-2019 Snowboard Review

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With ten years under its belt, YES has reason to celebrate. No other brand has made as big an impact in the same time frame, and to celebrate the guys have brought us this: the YES Basic Decade.

Naturally it’s a fresh take on YES’ much-admired workhorse, the Basic. A price-point wonder, it’s naturally a little lower-spec’d, but this edition changes all that.

“It’s a fresh take on YES’ much-admired workhorse, the Basic”

Out goes the extruded base, replaced with the highest-quality sintered version. As well as adding paulownia wood alongside poplar in the core, there’s also two curved carbon-and-bamboo rods that make the Basic Decade stiffer and more responsive than the original.

Unique to this board is a new topsheet, the details of which are being kept pretty close to YES design guru Alex Warburton’s chest right now. He tells us that as much as 15% of the weight has been shaved off that layer, and if anything the pop has actually improved. The graphics still look great, and it’s durable as hell, so we could be looking at something that will be rolled out to more YES models in the future.

There’s been no need to tinker with the ever-popular ‘Underbite’ edge design, though. The steel retreats slightly under each foot, splitting the contact into three zones and concentrating the pressure where it’s most needed during each turn. It’s that more than anything that has made the Basic such a highly respected stick.

“By taking a tried and tested crowd-pleaser and supercharging it, YES has created something that may well be greater than the sum of its parts”

By taking a tried and tested crowd-pleaser and supercharging it, YES has created something that may well be greater than the sum of its parts. The ten-year milestone is well worth celebrating, and the release of the YES Basic Decade snowboard is just the way to do it.

Tester’s Verdict

“I won’t hide the fact that I’m a big fan of what the guys at YES have going on, and the brand would pretty much always be my starting point if I was on the hunt for a new board. Despite testing loads of really, really good snowboards over the years I’ve owned YES boards since their first season, so it seemed appropriate to take a blast on this anniversary edition based on the ever-popular Basic.

“The flex is massively beefed up, making it more hard-charging than its little brother”

It’s immediately noticeable when you jump on this Decade edition that things have stepped up several notches in the spec compared with the regular Basic. The flex is massively beefed up, making it more hard-charging than its little brother.

That’s not to say it’s overly stiff; the board still felt playful enough to have some fun on everybody’s favourite Morzine side-hit lap, Prolays. Packed into the winning combo of the Basic’s twin shape and CamRock profile, the changes make for a mega versatile, all-terrain snowboard that should satisfy a wide audience.

Kudos to YES on pushing things forward for the past ten years!”

Trade Secrets

Alex Warburton – Brand Director, YES

“The Basic Decade is a one-year-only, 10-year anniversary, special edition Basic. That board has been such a defining model for the brand, won so many rider awards and been so well received commercially that it seemed only fitting to ‘pimp it out’.

The main model-unique feature is the Exposed Composite topsheet we developed over the past couple winters. It adds a highly robust, rider-responsive structural topsheet that’s 15-20% lighter than our traditional high-end nylon.

Under the hood is the carbon Powerdrive core that’s also available on the YES Optimistic which, coupled with the EC topsheet, turns the normally easy-going Basic into a corduroy-gouging, resort-slaying monster.”

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